I just thought it would be fun to list all the moves Holland has made while GM of the Red Wings. I'm not going to analyze or grade them but instead leave that up to all the amateur GMs here. He's had some excellent moves, but some awful ones as well. I'm not including draft picks since Jim Nill handles the draft and I'm not sure exactly when he took over that role from Holland. If someone knows specifically let me know and I can add in the drafts before that time.

I plan on keeping this updated as time goes on. I know I've missed some things so if you notice anything missing let me know so I can add it. Also if you have any contract details that I didn't include let me know and I'll add them.

2008 is when Kenny lost his touch with that gross Mule resigning to lifetime contract. good for Mule (who I like as a player and as a Instagram legend).
Notice Nill traded with Boston to get Tyler Seguin! Nill could be our GM right now if Illich wasn't spending all his time on face lifts.

2008 is when Kenny lost his touch with that gross Mule resigning to lifetime contract. good for Mule (who I like as a player and as a Instagram legend).Notice Nill traded with Boston to get Tyler Seguin! Nill could be our GM right now if Illich wasn't spending all his time on face lifts.

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Notice how Boston is in our division, and Dallas is out west?

Thanks FissionFire for putting this together. It was a lot of work, I bet. I read through it and noticed Scotty Bowman or Steve Yzerman's departure wasn't listed. Maybe it was because they left after their contract expired with the DRWs?

Thanks FissionFire for putting this together. It was a lot of work, I bet. I read through it and noticed Scotty Bowman or Steve Yzerman's departure wasn't listed. Maybe it was because they left after their contract expired with the DRWs?

Thanks FissionFire for putting this together. It was a lot of work, I bet. I read through it and noticed Scotty Bowman or Steve Yzerman's departure wasn't listed. Maybe it was because they left after their contract expired with the DRWs?

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Thanks! It's still a work in progress and I haven't had a chance to update it in quite some time since my laptop is kaput. I didn't list Bowman leaving as a coach since he retired. I could definitely add him however. Generally front office personnel and scouting moves are a bit harder to find info on so if you see anything I miss definitely point it out and I'll add it ASAP. Thanks for the feedback!

March 1 2015
Eric Cole and a conditional 3rd round pick for Mattias Backman, Mattias Janmark-Nylen, and a 2015 2nd round pick
March 1 2015
Marek Zidlicky for a conditional 2016 3rd pick.
June 15 2015
Red Wings sign Axel Holmstrom to ELC
June 26 2015
Red Wings re-sign Joakim Andersson to a one year contract.
June 30 2015
Red Wings re-sign Brendan Smith to a two year contract.
June 30 2015
Red Wings buy out Stephen Weiss' contract.
July 1 2015
Red Wings re-sign Andy Miele to a one year contract
July 1 2015
Red Wings sign Mike Green to a three year contract
July 1 2015
Red Wings re-sign Thomas McCollum to a one year contract.
July 1 2015
Red Wings sign Brad Richards to a one year contract.
July 2 2015
Red Wings sign Vili Saarijarvi to ELC.
July 5 2015
Red Wings re-sign Landon Ferraro to a one year deal.
July 8 2015
Red Wings sign Eric Tangradi to a one year deal.
July 9 2015
Red Wings re-sign Jared Coreau to a one year contract.
July 10 2015
Red Wings re-sign Gustav Nyquist to a 4 year extension.
July 13 2015
Red Wings re-sign Mitch Callahan to a 1 year contract.
July 15 2015
Red Wings re-sign Nick Jensen to a 1 year contract
July 15 2015
Red Wings re-sign Louis-Marc Aubry to a one year deal.
July 21 2015
Red Wings sign Teemu Pulkkinen to a one year contract.
July 24 2015
Red Wings re-sign Tomas Jurco to a two year extension.
August 16 2015
Red Wings sign Robbie Russo to a 2 year deal.
September 4 2015
Red Wings re-sign Dan Cleary to a one year deal.
October 2 2015
Red Wings sign Evgeni Svechnikov to his entry level 3 year deal.
November 12 2015
Red Wings extend Justin Abdelkader to a 7 year contract worth 4.25 per year.
November 16 2015
Red Wings extend Xavier Ouellet to a 1 year extension.
November 21 2015
Red Wings waive Landon Ferraro; Picked up by Boston Bruins

Kesler isn't a #1 center but he certainly is a great one. But yet Vancouver still wants to win the cup somehow. Chicago traded Sharp to Dallas. Hes old and not as great as he used to be. But thats still a good/great player in Division.

Kesler isn't a #1 center but he certainly is a great one. But yet Vancouver still wants to win the cup somehow. Chicago traded Sharp to Dallas. Hes old and not as great as he used to be. But thats still a good/great player in Division.

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I'm pretty sure Kesler had a NTC clause that limited where Vancouver could send him and Sharp was traded out of necessity to get under the cap so they too had little choice in where to send him.

The only way the Wings would have had any shot at Seguin would have been by offering a deal Boston couldn't say no to. It certainly wouldn't be anywhere near what Dallas got him for.

Young elite dman (at the time anyway, he will be in the future but things can happen i suppose) for draft picks

I bet we get seguin for pennies had he been the gm

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I remember in the midst of all the trades he made over the summer, Boston fans said he was responsible for a really bad trade/signing(I don't remember which) as an assistant GM. As in, he really pushed Chiarelli to make it. I don't think it was the Seguin trade, but it was something.

This is a great list, thanks for compiling. You can see whee the big mistakes are, he went from signing players 2-3 years to handing out very long term contracts and then widening the range of who gets these contracts. Ericsson for 6 years? Abdelkader for 7?!

Only players who deserve this kind of term are the absolute top guys, Kronwall, Dats, Z, Lids, etc. Franzen I can forgive because, while a hilariously obvious cap circumvention, the cap hit was low and since he is injured he isn't hurting us. If he wasn't injured and he couldn't score, then we would be in **** with it. Plus of course it was made when these cap circumventions were a good move.

And of course letting Hossa walk which directly led to our rival winning 3 cups in the last 5 years.

Most of the years posted so far in the OP (up to year 17) look anywhere from "Hey, that's a pretty nice season, all things considered!" to "Oh my God I love you Ken Holland!!!"

Then you get to years 15, 16, 17 and what is left of your hair falls out

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Which can be explained by lack of ELC top talent/stars, aging star players skating on one leg and no top 10 draft picks and no top dmen due to not having top 10 draft picks...

People complain about certain contracts, but not one contract held the team back from getting anyone they wanted. While Mike Illitch wanted Ryan Suter, he didn't seem too interested in giving Parise a blank check and probably wouldn't have offered Suter too much more than what he got. Wings were used to up Suter's bid in Minny, he had no intentions of coming here. He wanted to play with his butt buddy.

The past 3 years is less about Ken Holland doing a subpar job, but more to do with being too good for too long along with parity in the league with cap restrictions. It's becoming clear to be a top tier contender in the Nu:NHL a team needs to tank, stock pile top 5 picks and build a young core, along with having tons of scoring and defensive depth on ELC mixed in with a few veterans for leadership.

Drafting is key. Wings scouts have whiffed out on too many top tier dman. If that falls on Kenny, I don't know. He sends out his scouts and they return to him with what they find. Are these scouts too simple-minded to find good defensman? I'm leaning towards yes. I would like Ken Holland to start poaching Nashville's scouts... but I am too simple-minded to know the rules, policies, and repercussions of doing that. It might be a big no-no in the league. I don't know. But it is clear to me that Nashville have a winning formula to finding top defensemen in later rounds. On the flip side, Nashville are subpar at finding top centers.

Which can be explained by lack of ELC top talent/stars, aging star players skating on one leg and no top 10 draft picks and no top dmen due to not having top 10 draft picks...

People complain about certain contracts, but not one contract held the team back from getting anyone they wanted. While Mike Illitch wanted Ryan Suter, he didn't seem too interested in giving Parise a blank check and probably wouldn't have offered Suter too much more than what he got. Wings were used to up Suter's bid in Minny, he had no intentions of coming here. He wanted to play with his butt buddy.

The past 3 years is less about Ken Holland doing a subpar job, but more to do with being too good for too long along with parity in the league with cap restrictions. It's becoming clear to be a top tier contender in the Nu:NHL a team needs to tank, stock pile top 5 picks and build a young core, along with having tons of scoring and defensive depth on ELC mixed in with a few veterans for leadership.

Drafting is key. Wings scouts have whiffed out on too many top tier dman. If that falls on Kenny, I don't know. He sends out his scouts and they return to him with what they find. Are these scouts too simple-minded to find good defensman? I'm leaning towards yes. I would like Ken Holland to start poaching Nashville's scouts... but I am too simple-minded to know the rules, policies, and repercussions of doing that. It might be a big no-no in the league. I don't know. But it is clear to me that Nashville have a winning formula to finding top defensemen in later rounds. On the flip side, Nashville are subpar at finding top centers.

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I don't think Holland has done a "bad" job, I just wish he was a little less rigid in how he operated

Trying something new would be cool, like trading a roster player (???)

I often joke with my friends irl that if Andrew Brunette had signed with Detroit instead of Chicago a few years ago, he would probably still be a Wing. Holland is loyal to a fault, and it is a good problem to have as a fan as it is good for your GM to be a good character guy, but rather than make a few moves to accommodate a new player, like say playing hardball with Abby, letting Miller, Helm, Quincey walk this offseason, etc. and make a competitive offer for Byfuglien and get creative filling in any holes on the 4th line/ 3rd pair, I'd wager he brings back at least some of those guys and give Byfuglien a terrible offer on July 1st which he obviously declines.

For example: when Stralman hit UFA it was reported that Holland offered him a 2 or 3 year offer IIRC, while Stralman wanted term because of his situation in the NHL. Rather than be competitive and clearing a roster spot and/or cap space by trading Kindl for anything, he gave him a whimper of an offer. Now Stralman is a 1st pairing D on the team that just went to the finals and we have Quincey

Most of the years posted so far in the OP (up to year 17) look anywhere from "Hey, that's a pretty nice season, all things considered!" to "Oh my God I love you Ken Holland!!!"

Then you get to years 15, 16, 17 and what is left of your hair falls out

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That's a great way to put it.

Holland deserves a massive amount of credit and thanks for the success of the Wings over the last 18 years. But it seems like he's had as many missteps in just the last few seasons as he did all the years before it combined.

The Red Wings are no longer a well-oiled machine that only requires subtle tweaking, and Holland seems reluctant to change his conservative style in making changes.

Holland deserves a massive amount of credit and thanks for the success of the Wings over the last 18 years. But it seems like he's had as many missteps in just the last few seasons as he did all the years before it combined.

The Red Wings are no longer a well-oiled machine that only requires subtle tweaking, and Holland seems reluctant to change his conservative style in making changes.

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It was a nice way to sum it up in a sentence. Who in this city doesn't love Holland for what he brought to the team. Not sure if he is the right guy for a rebuild though looks like we'll get to see.

LOL I love the crying faces on the Abby contract. Holly crap I can't believe that guy is here this plus 7 more seasons.